Forms Privacy – Australian Privacy Principle 5 Notification
PBS Approved Suppliers Portal – Privacy Statement
Forms Privacy – Australian Privacy Principle 5 Notification
The Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care (the department) is bound by the
Privacy Act 1988 and the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs).
The department is collecting personal information that you provide in the relevant Form for the purposes of assessing the application or processing the notification (as the case may be). The collection of the personal information is authorised under the
National Health Act 1953 (Cth) and delegated legislation under that Act.
If you do not provide the personal information requested in the relevant Form, the department may not be able to assess the application or process the notification (as the case may be).
If necessary for the purposes of administering the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) or if required or authorised by law, the department may disclose the personal information to other organisations and government departments including:
- Services Australia;
- the Australian Community Pharmacy Authority; and
- contracted service providers who deliver PBS programs and services, or undertake activities related to analysis of data and/or Government reporting.
The department is unlikely to disclose the personal information to overseas recipients.
If you disclose other people’s personal information to this department (for example, if you are an appointed representative of the applicant(s) and are lodging the application on their behalf; or if you are the applicant who is a registered medical practitioner and, in applying to supply pharmaceutical benefits, you provide personal information about the practitioner you are replacing or for whom you are providing locum medical services), in disclosing that personal information to the department, you undertake that those other people have:
- consented to the department collecting and using their personal information for the purposes set out in this notice; and
- read and understood this privacy notice.
Further information about privacy
To view the department’s APP privacy policy, visit our
Privacy page.
You can obtain a copy of the APP privacy policy by contacting the department using the contact details set out at the end of this notice. The APP privacy policy contains information about:
- how you may access the personal information the department holds about you and how you can seek correction of it;
- how you may complain about a breach of
- the APPs; or
- a registered APP code that binds the department; and
- how the department will deal with such a complaint.
The department can be contacted by:
PBS Approved Suppliers Portal – Privacy Statement
The Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care (department) is bound by the
Privacy Act 1988 and the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs).
Collection of personal information
Access and use of the Portal
The department collects your personal information when you apply to create a PBS Approved Suppliers Portal (Portal) user profile, and subsequently utilise the Portal to make and review applications.
This information is collected for the purposes of processing your user application and administering any permitted access to the Portal, including:
- confirming your identity and establishing your account credentials
- maintaining your contact details
- providing technical support and guidance
- verifying compliance with the Portal Terms and Conditions of Use
- verifying your user application
- monitoring and reviewing your use of, and access to data within, the Portal via an audit log
- investigating suspected improper use of the Portal
- where necessary, revoking your access to the Portal.
If you do not provide sufficient information to enable the creation of a user profile, you will be unable to make applications through the Portal.
Lodgement and processing of an application
The department collects your personal information when you use the Portal to apply, or apply on behalf of a pharmacist or organisation, to supply pharmaceutical benefits from a particular location.
Where you appoint a representative to apply on your behalf, you consent to the department collecting your personal information from that person, including information:
- contained in your application, including draft applications that are not submitted
- provided in response to requests for further information or supporting documents during the application process.
The department will also collect your personal information with your prior consent when you are nominated as the contact person for an application, or your personal information is contained in documents submitted as part of an application or you are nominated as the payer of the application fee for an application (
Payer).
The department will collect information confirming payment of the application fee from Ezypay or the Payer’s financial institution. No credit card or bank account details will be collected.
As part of processing your application, the department may collect your information when:
- receiving comments on your application from pharmacists surrounding the location of the proposed pharmacy
- receiving information from the Australian Community Pharmacy Authority (ACPA), including its recommendation on your application.
The collection of personal information, including the name of the applicant pharmacist, is authorised, as applicable, by ss 90, 91, 91A, 92 and 94 of the
National Health Act 1953 (NH Act).
If you do not provide the application information, your application may be rejected or its assessment delayed.
Use and disclosure of personal information
The department ordinarily uses and discloses personal information for the collection purpose.
For each Portal user and Payer, the department will create a record in its Customer Record Management (CRM) system for administration purposes.
Where you make an application via the Portal, are nominated as the Payer, or provide comments as a surrounding pharmacy when logged in as a Portal user, the department may link your application or comment to your existing CRM record. Limited information in any earlier application linked to your CRM record may be used or disclosed to the ACPA to assess any current application to supply pharmaceutical benefits from a particular location. Payer information will not be disclosed to the ACPA.
Payer information may be linked to previous payer details if there is an exact match with the organisation name and ABN.
The department usually discloses information provided as part of an application (excluding Payer information) to:
- the ACPA to assess the application
- other applicants and/or authorised persons for the application.
Only the address of the proposed pharmacy, and the section under which the application is made, will be disclosed to any surrounding pharmacy invited to comment on your application.
The department is unlikely to disclose your personal information to overseas recipients as the Portal terms and conditions requires users to access the Portal from within Australia only.
Access and amendment of information submitted via the Portal
Users can access copies of current and historical applications which they have made using the Portal. Only the user who submits the application, or a user who has requested the department manually link the application to their user profile, will have access to the application.
Users who are an applicant, representative or contact nominee for an application can request the manual linking of the application to their user profile by sending an email to
PBSApprovedSuppliers@health.gov.au from the address used to register their user account, along with their full name and the application tracking ID.
Once an application is submitted, it cannot be amended unless it is considered invalid by the department and returned to the submitter for resubmission.
Users can also view and update their contact details via the Portal.
Further information about privacy
To view the department’s APP privacy policy, visit our
Privacy page.
You can obtain a copy of the APP privacy policy by contacting the department using the contact details set out at the end of this notice. The APP privacy policy contains information about:
- how you may otherwise access the personal information the department holds about you and how you can seek correction of it, and
- how you may complain about a breach of:
- the APPs
- a registered APP code that binds the department, and
- how the department will deal with such a complaint.
You can contact the department by:
